I Am Not a Wounded Soul
by Turtlegirl13
Summary: Part Four of the Bailey Stark series is here! Join Bailey on her road to recovery after the attack on New York City. Bailey builds up the new "Avengers" Tower with her Reptilian partner, Donatello, as a coping mechanism. All is well for some time, but what will happen when the Mandarin makes an appearance?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! Are you ready for the fourth story?! Well, without further due..."I Am Not a Wounded Soul".**

Chapter 1

"It's been almost two years, but I've gotta say, damn I'm good." I smiled as I stood on a balcony on the top of the new Avengers Tower.

"He-hum." Donnie cleared his throat dramatically behind me.

"I mean we're good." I kissed his cheek and Mikey groaned.

"Why do you have to do that in front of us?" The youngest turtle whined.

I laughed as Donnie blushed and pointed at Mikey and Donnie. "Because I get reactions like these."

"Um…guys." Raphael called all of us inside the 'Turtle Suite' as I like to call it.

Donnie took my hand and walked inside as I found Leo glaring at the TV screen at I pulled my jacket off. My jaw dropped at what I saw.

 _A robed man was pacing in front of a line of prisoners. There was a large crowd around them as the robed man walked away._

" _Some people call me a terrorist." The man spoke as the prisoners were shot. "I consider myself a teacher." There was a small montage of crowds cheering in the Middle East to American women smiling._

" _America." The man spat as his bearded face was shown. "Ready for another lesson? In 1864, in Sand Creek, Colorado, the US military waited until the friendly Cheyenne braves had all gone hunting." A bunch of photos of Indians flashed across the screen. "Waited to attack and slaughter the families left behind and claim their land." The man started pacing in a black room. "39 hours ago," a Middle Eastern town was shown and a building was on fire, spewing black clouds into the sky, "the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I…I…I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers. The braves were away." A clip of an explosion appeared on the screen before President Ellis making a speech came on. "You continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now you've missed me again. You know who I am. You don't know where I am." There was a long pause. "And you'll never see me coming."_

 _The screen flashed with clips of mobs and riots, then the screen went black._

My heart was pounding as I stared at the now blank screen. Yeah, I've heard about some bombings here and there, but now this guy was able to hack into our TV's! I can't even think right now as I noticed my iron grip on Donnie's arm. Quickly, I let go and stumbled back until I grabbed a hold onto the counter to try to get my racing heart under control. Okay, breathe, Bailey, you don't have mental breakdowns!

"Bailey, you okay?" Mikey was next to me.

I inhaled deeply and nodded. "It just caught me off guard is all." Pushing myself away from the table, I went to Donnie's lab right next to the entertainment room we were in. "I gotta go and, um, analyze those…security upgrades."

Shuffling to the lab, I heard Donnie following me, not that I mind or anything. I tossed myself into his chair and logged onto his computer which was basically a giant hologram now. I went through the files for the security which JARVIS was in control of. I gave him even more abilities; such as creating his own holographic form. Like I brought up a long while back, I did invent something to allow the guys to appear 'normal'. To everyone else, they will look like humans, but for me they will look like their green reptile selves. We already put it on a test run a couple months ago. It went just as planned, no one gave them a second glance.

My eyes wandered the cluttered papers on the desk and I looked over all of them. They were all for different upgrades and inventions, but my eyes lingered on Elek's blueprints. A long sigh escaped my lips and Donnie gave my shoulder a squeeze. "It won't be long."

I laid my hand over Donnie's and smiled. "I know."

"Hey, Bailey!" Leo called through the door. "Your dad's on the phone."

I gasped and scrambled to the door and grabbed the phone from Leo's hands. "Dad?"

'Hey, Bails, how are you doing?' He sounded tired.

I nodded. "I'm okay, and you? How have you been doing?"

There was a long pause and dad sighed into the phone. 'I've had better days.'

"What's been going on?" I asked, concerned about how unsure he sounded.

'Other than building a bunch of new Iron Man suits, and having an anxiety attack in the middle of a restaurant, nothing.'

"So you're not sleeping either?" I rubbed my face.

'As if I could.' He chuckled, humor completely gone from his voice.

"Is it because of what happened in New York-"

'Bailey. Please, not now with that.' Dad practically begged. It was about New York and the attack.

"Okay, okay," I put my hands up in surrender even though I know he can't see it, "I don't blame you for not wanting to bring that up."

'Bailey.' He said in that same breathless voice.

"What suit ideas have you come up with?" I asked to change the subject and continue to talk to my dad.

'Hmm, let's see…' He started rambling off different suits he's created, and I have to say, I'm impressed. It must've been hours that we talked and I finally said good night. He scoffed. 'Yeah, let's see if I can actually sleep tonight.'

"I'll try if, you do." I said sadly into the phone.

He sighed. 'Okay, Night.'

"Love you, dad."

'Love you too, Bails.'

With that we both hung up.

"Hey the guys went back to the lair," Donnie started to guide me out of the chair, "I can stay tonight if you like."

I nodded and let him guide me to my bedroom on the floor above. Really it was just a small 'apartment'. Once I crawled into bed, Donnie took off his gear and laid beside me. His arm draped around me and pulled me towards him. I smiled and tried to relax enough to allow my eyes to shut, but every time they shut, I saw Elek's death. So, as Donnie drifted to sleep, and soft snores sounded from him, I stared at the wall and tried not to think. Pft, yeah right. No one could be related to Tony Stark and be able to keep themselves from thinking.

 **A/N: So...whatcha think?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _The wind echoed in my ears as I soared through the towers of New York, on my way to one final destination. That damn hole in the sky that was disposing all those aliens into our atmosphere. They screeched and cried their victory as they fired at the innocent. It was when my allies started fumbling that I knew what had to be done, as Tony shouted over the PA systems, that nuke was going where I was heading. The metal scraping my back as it bounced and threatened to get out of my grip, I had to fight Tony. I couldn't let her lose him._

 _As my fate drew closer, I shut my eyes. 'Good-bye, Bails.'_

"Bailey!"

"Elek!" I jumped up and shouted as Elek's voice echoed in my head. Donnie's hands were cradling my face.

"Hey, hey, take it easy, it was just a bad dream." He tried to soothe me. I shook my head to try and get his voice out, but I didn't want to. I wanted to keep him close by.

"He was showing me something…Elek was showing me how he died." I whimpered. "He did it for me."

Donnie held me to his plastron and laid us back down on the bed. "Of course, he did. Elek loved you, Bailey. He was like your overprotective big brother."

I giggled through my waterworks. "Y-yeah."

He rubbed my arm and sighed. "I'll get started on him once we're done with the defense system, we'll start building El again."

I pouted. "Okay."

Quickly he shifted to peek down at me resting on his chest. "You know what?"

"What?" I slowly let my eyes meet his.

"We all need a little trip." He smiled and squinted because he didn't have his glasses on.

I giggled. "To where?"

"To your dad's place. You need to see him and I know my brothers would love the trip."

Smiling back at Donnie, I sat up and climbed over him to get off the bed and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and start the coffee. Donnie will definitely need one if he's going to convince Leo to let the four of them fly with me to California.

"Is that a yes?" Donnie called from the bedroom as I grabbed my toothbrush.

I shook my head with a giggle. "Yes, Brainiac!"

After I finished in the bathroom, I stopped by our lab to see Donnie already working on some things. So I shuffled to the small kitchen and started the coffee. With a deep inhale, the rich aroma made my mouth water. Eh, I'll grab a cup.

Once the batch was done, I grabbed two mugs and brought the second mug to Donnie. When I got to his desk, his hand was aimlessly search for his mug. I laughed and set the mug in his reach before kissing his cheek.

"Just so you know, you're telling Leo." I told him as he stared at the computer.

His eyes widened before groaning. "Fine…"

'Ms. Stark, uh, my apologies, Bailey, the turtles are coming up the elevator.' Jarvis informed us.

"Hey dudes!" Mikey's voice echoed. "Why aren't you in the Turtle Suite?"

"Why are you up so early?" I countered as I looked at the time. It was 5 AM.

"Ask Fearless." Raph grumbled before sulking to the kitchen.

Leo rolled his eyes and walked towards Donnie and I. "We decided to train up here."

A feint tap sound made me look past Leo to Master Splinter who was looking around the apartment. "Yes, a new environment will be wise for all of your training." The small rat strolled towards us.

"Good morning, Sensei." I bowed and shoved Donnie to get him to notice that Splinter was here.

"Oh, morning, Sensei." He stuttered.

Splinter narrowed his eyes. "Hmm, my son, have you been getting enough sleep?"

Donnie turned to face his father. "Um, yeah, dad."

"Then you must revisit some meditation sessions." Splinter shook his head.

"Hai, Sensei." Donnie pouted.

I stepped forward. "Sensei, let me show you the dojo."

I lead Splinter down the elevator to the Turtle Suite where the high-tech dojo and started to explain how to operate it. The guys came down a few minutes later. Leo seemed grumpy, which means, Donnie asked. Unlucky for Donnie, he had to spar with Leo in the area of his choice. Of course, Leo chose the jungle because he trained there for a few years. I stayed back with the others as the two fought. Leo used the trees to his advantage and Donnie used his brains, as the ninjas battled it out. Then Raph went against Mikey in a wrestling ring. That one was actually amusing. I looked at Splinter who shook his head at the area choice. He's regretting letting them decide.

"Bailey, I would like to try a course for you." Splinter said as Mikey was pinned by Raph.

"What do you want me to do?" I stepped forward.

Splinter walked up to the dojo and stroked his beard. "Hmm, it will challenge you mentally, physically, and emotionally."

"Whoa, Sensei, that doesn't sound like a good idea." Raph said.

"And why is that Raphael?" Splinter asked.

Raph pointed at me. "She's still recovering."

"Over the invasion, but the techniques that are being used are not ones that will bring success." Splinter explained.

"Sensei, I don't-"

"Donatello!" Splinter shouted to silence Donnie. "This will help Bailey. Do you not want her to overcome the fear and doubt she feels?"

"Sorry, Sensei." Donnie said in a quiet voice.

"Good, then she will go through this course."

I took a breath and walked to the entrance of the dojo. After I was inside it closed and I looked around to see if Splinter had started the course. Moments later, the invasion in New York appeared in front of me, except I was alone and Elek was surround by the Chitauri. Slowly, I made my way over to Elek to help him, but I was now surrounded. I spun around and took in the army around me, I was badly outnumbered. I was so overwhelmed and the aliens were inching in. Then I heard the Hulk roar, but it wasn't in the usual animalistic way. He sounded hurt. I fought my way out of the circle and found all of the Avengers dead.

"Bailey!" Elek's voice boomed.

My head spun to him as he walked towards me. "Elek?"

"You see what will happen if you can't move past what happened to me?" He asked.

"What? Elek, what are you saying?" How was he alive?

"I'm saying, your mind is not in a stable spot. You're overcome by grief and worry that your mind is clouded." His grabbed me by my shoulders and gave me a light shake. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Keep yourself safe."

"I will."

Then everything disappeared and I was back in the Avengers Tower. I didn't fall to my knees or start crying, I just stood there. It was time to let go.

Good-bye, Elek.

 **A/N: Don't freak out yet, okay? I know things look bad for Elek's return, but I need you all to just trust me.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Guys, we have to be at the airport in twenty minutes!" I shouted throughout the lair as Mikey dug through his bag.

"Dudette, that means we got twenty minutes." Mikey rolled his eyes.

"Not when it takes twenty minutes to get there." I had my hands on my hips.

Raph walked in with his bag thrown over his shoulder. "Wait, don't you have a private plane?"

Of course I do! But doesn't anyone else get that it's just plain rude to keep someone waiting like that. "Yes, Raph, I do."

"Then they can wait." He shrugged and dropped his bag by the exit.

I groaned and slid my hand down my face. Rushing them is not going to work, and I think it's making them go slower. That's it! I snatched Raph's bag and brought it up to the lobby of the tower and the stormed back and shoved whatever Mikey had in his hand into the bag and repeated the trip.

"Bailey, I wasn't done!" Mikey whined.

"Now, you are." I activated their disguises and pushed Mikey towards the exit. "We are leaving. Raph, let's go!"

Mikey tried fighting me the whole way, but I used Raph to keep him moving. I was surprised at this. You would think with Mikey's bold and bubbly attitude that going on a "field trip" would be fun. I tried to restrain myself from slapping him on our way up in the elevator. All of the whining was getting to me and I just couldn't wait to get on the plane and go to sleep. The flight attendants could take care of the guys and I could block them out for a few hours.

Once we got up, I found Don and Leo with the bags. I sighed in relief and helped them get the bags in the van I rented. I wanted something inconspicuous. After that, the rest of us piled in and Donnie drove to the airport. Somehow the ride shut Mikey up.

"So, is your dad picking us up or is there another car?" Leo asked.

"Happy might pick us up." I answered.

"Happy?" Raph asked.

"You remember, my dad's bodyguard."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh yeah."

Raph has tasted the "fury" of Happy's protection efforts many times, and not because Raph was being threatening. It was because they were in the same room together. I don't know why the two don't get along. Then a loud yawn came from Raph.

"Well, wake me when we get there."

And out like a light, he fell asleep. For the rest of the ride, I just stared out the window and watched as the city disappeared and eventually the small airport appeared. Since ours is a private plane, we didn't have to sign our bags in and wait for the plane and all of the airport nonsense. So, as we arrived, I made Mikey wake Raph up. Of course, the hothead went to punch Mikey, but it was for a good reason. Mikey freaking screamed in his ear to wake him up. I just rolled my eyes, and when we stopped, I started to place our bags by the plane. The crew would take care of actually loading it.

Lucky for the guys, they were able to turn off their disguises. The crew members there were under strict instructions not to say a thing about their passengers. Mikey ran into the plane and turned his disguise off before exploring the plane some more. I laughed and thanked the crew as I walked into the plane. It was pretty wide open, with three pairs of seats by the door and two small round tables across from the door. We took our seats and buckled up. Don was to my left, Leo was behind me, and Raph and Mikey were fighting over the window seat. It was then solved by the two going to a different seating section. There was plenty of room to walk around when the time was safe to do so and there was a TV so Mike wouldn't get bored. For me, I took the time to try and catch some z's. Hopefully, sensei's lesson today helped me, spiritually. Sighing, I leaned into Donnie, who wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I closed my eyes. Let's see if it did.

" _Welcome aboard, we will be arriving in Los Angeles in approximately four and a half hours."_ The piolet's voice buzzed.

Mikey's groan of disappointment was the last thing I heard before I fell wasn't long before I was being woken up by Don and we got off the plane. A black limo was waiting for us and we got in, but it wasn't Happy driving. Actually no one was driving.

"Ms. Stark, it is a pleasure. We will arrive at Mr. Stark's home in fifteen minutes." A hologram of a man with dark brown hair and dark sunglasses.

"Where's Happy?" I asked the driver.

"There has been a recent incident at the Grauman's Chinese Theater. The man you identify as 'Happy' was involved."

"Was? Where is he?" I almost shouted as my stomach dropped.

"He is at the hospital now-"

"Take me there, now." I ordered and focused on the road as it sped by. "What do you know about the attack? What condition is Happy in? Where's my dad?" I rambled out.

"All I have records of the incident is that it is a terrorist attack. Happy's condition involves multiple burns, a broken arm,"

"That's enough." I interrupted as I wrapped my arms around myself. "Guys, when we get there, it's bound to be mobbed by paparazzi. Just avoid eye contact and don't say anything."

"Those paparazzi are vicious." Mikey shouted.

"Yeah, but just ignore it for now." I looked specifically at Donnie and Leo. They just gave me a curt nod and the car stopped in front of the hospital entrance where dad's car was parked and the paparazzi swarmed our car. "Get ready." I centered myself and led the guys out of the car. They created a small barrier around me as the crowd shouted at me for answers. There was a lot of questions about my dad, but I focused on the nearing door.

Once inside, we all let out a sigh of relief and went up to the receptionist. She had bright red curly hair that bounced when she moved her head.

"Hi, how may I help you?" She asked.

"Um, where is Happy Hogan is?" I asked and she pointed me in the direction of his room. "Thank you!"

We went around a few turns and a nurse walked out of Happy's room. I stood by the entrance of the room and found Happy laying on the hospital bed with IVs in his arm and a neck brace…he looked terrible.

"We'll wait out here." Donnie whispered to me and I nodded.

I went next to Happy's bedside and just looked at him. His face was badly bruised and his lip was split. Falling into the chair, I bowed my head onto his hand. He's always seemed invincible to me, especially when I was younger. My dad always counted on him, and he's a fun sparring partner. I lifted my head and found my dad sleeping in the corner. A smile spread across my face. Suddenly, he jerked and his eyes busted open. Dad looked around the room before his eyes rested on me.

"Bails? When'd you get here?" He asked getting up to greet me.

"Hey, we just got in like an hour ago. When I heard about Happy, we rushed here. What happened?"

"We should head back and I'll show you."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After we shoved our way through the paparazzi and dad threatened the terrorist, we got into our cars and drove to my dad's house. The ride wasn't bad, but we were all pretty anxious about what happened to Happy and the fact that now the Mandarin has our address. So we parked and gathered into the house. We said hi to Pepper and then went into the shop. Of course, it's been upgraded, tech wise, but it looked relatively the same.

' _I've complied a Mandarin database for you, sir, drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., FBI, and CIA intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction.' JARVIS said._

Dad carried a holographic space in front of us. "Okay. What have we got here?"

I listened as my dad started mumbling different facts about the Mandarin. He forgot about showing us what happened to Happy, but I'll let it go. Since, you know, he threatened a terrorist!

' _The heat from the blast was in excess of 3,000 degrees Ceksius.'_ JARVIS explained as three holographic victims appeared. _'Any subject within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly.'_ As he said that the holograms vaporized.

"No bomb parts found in a three-mile radius of the Chinese Theatre?" Dad asked JARVIS.

' _No, sir.'_

"Talk to me, Happy."

This got my attention as a hologram of Happy appeared in front of us. He was laying on the ground with holographic rubble around him. Lines came from his eyes and index finger, both meeting at a source some feet away. Dad walked over and brought the object over. He brought up that many of the victims were in the military before.

"Any military victims?" I asked.

' _Not according to public record, Bailey.'_

"Bring up the thermogenic signatures again." Donnie piped in.

"Factor in 3,000 degrees." I added.

' _The Oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last 12 months of thermogenic occurrences now.'_

The area in front of us became a map of the country and in different spots an orange bar rose above the marked area.

"Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack." Dad said.

A majority of the locations disappeared. None of them were hot enough other than the one in Tennessee.

"That. Are you sure that's not one of his?" Dad asked JARVIS.

' _It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide.'_

"Bring her around."

The description of the incident hovered towards us and dad studied it.

' _The heat signature is remarkably similar. 3,000 degrees Celsius.'_

"That's two military guys, dad." I told him. "There's gotta be some sort of program they're getting sucked into."

He shook his head. "Just a coincident." He then spoke to JARVIS. "Have you ever been to Tennessee, JARVIS?"

' _Creating a flight plan for Tennessee.'_

With the swiping motion of dad's arms the hologram disappeared, then the doorbell rang.

"Are we still on ding-dong?" I asked kind of scared.

"No, we're supposed to be on total," He hit the table, "security lock down. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?"

' _There's only so much I could do, sir. When you give the world's press your home address.'_

As dad went for the door, I turned towards the guys to make sure they had their bracelets on, and they did, so we joined dad upstairs. He was already in Mark…um…I lost count I think this one is forty-two. Dad motioned for us to stand back as he met our surprise "guest".

"Right there is fine." There was a long pause. "You're not the Mandarin. Are you? Are you?"

"You don't remember me." It was a woman, but that voice…

I peeked around the corner. A woman around average height with long brown hair and brown eyes was smiling at dad.

"Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast."

' _Gluten-free waffles, sir.'_

My memory snapped into overdrive as dad and the woman talked. I knew this woman, she's my mom.

"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you, someplace not here." Suddenly her eyes were on me.

"Mom?"

She stormed up to dad and whispered to him angrily.

"She's visiting, things have been rough around here." Dad answered, but then his voice dropped. "You should say something to her."

I shook my head. "What's there to say?" My stare turned cold as I snapped at her. "What are you doing here?"

She completely ignored me. "Tony, it's urgent."

I watched as dad walked away explaining how he was in a "stable relationship" as Pepper's bags dropped from the second floor.

"Tony? Is somebody there?" Pepper asked.

I felt Donnie's hand wrap around mine and led me towards the others.

"Yeah, it's Maya Hansen." Dad answered. "Old Botanist pal."

"Bailey's mother?" Pepper asked.

"Uh, y-yeah." Dad stuttered.

Dad and Maya spoke together in quiet voices as I glanced over at Pepper who was taking in the whole situation. Then she waltz over to Dad and Maya as they reminisced about dad's old "habits".

"You saved yourself a world of pain." Pepper said before turning to dad. "We're going out of town."

"Okay, we've been through this. Nope." Dad argued.

"Yep!" Pepper countered.

"The man says no."

"Immediately and indefinitely." Pepper was fired up now.

"Honey…"

"Great idea. Let's go." Maya said.

Then everyone started arguing so I pulled away from Donnie to go sit on the couch to watch the news report. Raph and Leo stayed close to Pepper and dad in case they tried to fight, and Mike and Don stayed with me. I rolled my eyes as dad shouted about the giant bunny he bought for Pepper was normal, but I stood up when the house was on the news. "Stark Issues Threat" was running along the bottom of the screen and the news feed zoomed in on a missile heading straight for the house!

"Dad!" I screamed as the missile made contact with the house. We were all knocked off of our feet, thrown in every which way like damn ragdolls. Donnie's arms wrapped around me as I landed on him, but he changed back to his turtle form and landed on his carapace. Pepper was in Mark Forty-two and Maya was in Leo's arms. I shook my head.

"Move! I'm right behind you!" Dad shouted to Pepper before running to me and Don. "Get her outside and away from here!"

"Dad, no!" I tried pulling away from Donnie, who was back in his human form. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Stop stopping." He said. "Go!"

Donnie picked me up over his shoulder and bolted out of the house. My eyes were glued on my dad as he struggled to get around. Once we were all outside, a part of the roof caved in. More missiles hit the house and Mark forty-two flew off of Pepper and into the house. One helicopter went down and then another, but the second went right into the house.

"Daddy!" I screamed as I tried to pull free from Donnie's grasp. "We gotta help him!"

It was too late the house was gone and my dad was inside. I tore away from Donnie and followed Pepper towards the edge. Skidding to a stop I looked over. My fists clenched in anger as I pathetically started throwing rocks at the escaping helicopter.

"Bailey! Bailey!" I heard Mikey and the others shouting my name.

I spun around and shouted. "What?"

"You have to calm down." Mikey told me.

My gaze snapped to Maya and I stomped up to her. "Are you happy?" My lip trembled. "You took everything away from me!" I shoved her. "That's all you freaking care about is yourself! I don't want to see you every again!" I pushed her again and screamed. "Leave!"

She backed up a few steps, but didn't leave. I shook my head and turned back to the destroyed home. Walking forward a few steps, I went down to my knees and sobbed. My heart wrenched and my breath caught. I heard the guys walk up to me and Donnie put his arms around me. My hands grasped his arms tightly as I shook. I glanced over to Pepper who's head snapped in the direction of the emergency sirens approaching. She then walked over to me with two Iron Man helmets.

"They're blinking." She sniffled.

I quickly grabbed the helmet and pulled it on. _'Stark Secure Server. Retinal scan verified.'_

' _Bailey, honey, I'm okay. I've got a lot to make up for and not enough time to do it. So first off, I'm sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. You're not gonna want to hear this, but I can't come home yet. When I do get back, I'm done pushing people I care about away. So, when this is all over, everything is going to change. I promise, baby girl, we'll be the family we were supposed to be.'_ He blew into the phone. _'I'm calling from a payphone and I'm running out of time. I love you.'_ The call ended.

I pulled the helmet off and held it close to me. "I love you, daddy."

 **A/N: Sorry I know, many feelz here. Xp**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"We can't just sit here."

We booked a flight back to New York after the Mandarin attacked. The turtles, Splinter, and I were sitting in the living room of the Turtle's Suite. I still had the Iron Man helmet clutched in my arms as I sat in front of the window, which was one way (we could see out and no one can see in), and just stared out. The guys were arguing about what to do, but was there really anything to do? Killing the Mandarin won't bring dad back, and it sure as hell won't help me feel better.

"Bailey is not in the right state of mind to be able to fight!" Raph shouted.

"Would you?" Donnie's voice boomed and his brothers stopped. Glancing up through the glass, I could see Donnie standing with his fists clenched. "With all of these battles going on, one after the other, there isn't any time for healing. We're forced to skip over the stage of finding answers to one conflict before running into the next." He paused. "But this," Donnie pointed at all of them, "is not going to help Bailey, her father, or the situation."

I stood up and walked into the elevator before letting it take me up to the roof. Right now, I just need time to think and sort through all this shit. With a sigh, I folded my legs under me and closed my eyes. Some meditation will do the trick. I steadied my breathing and relaxed my body. Just as Splinter said, "have riddance towards all of the negative thoughts and feelings." It wasn't long before I felt calm and relaxed. All of the stress was seeping out of me with every breath I took.

Tonight was a beautiful night after all, it was warm with a cool breath and the stars illuminated the sky as I looked up. Unfortunately, I had get back inside before the others come up to drag me back in. Stretching my legs out, I stood.

"Ms. Stark."

I spun around towards the mysterious voice with a gasp. A tall man with golden blonde hair and blue eyes smirked at me.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Who the hell are you?" Something felt off about this guy.

"My name is Aldrich Killian, founder of AIM."

"What?" I slowly backed up towards the door.

"Ms. Stark, you're coming with us."

Before I could argued, I felt something hit me in the head.

(Tony POV)

"Have you ever had a chick straddling you and you look up and she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?" I asked Rhodey as I looked over the files of the kid who exploded nearby in Tennessee.

'Yeah, I've had that. Who's this?'

He forgot me already. I mused. "It's me, pal. Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?"

'A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing?'

"Your redesign, you big rebrand, that was AIM, right?"

"Yeah."

I tossed my papers into the passenger seat. Fuck. "I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now, I need you login."

'It's the same as it's always been, 'WarMachine68'.'

"And password, please." I scribbled down the name.

'Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony.' Rhodey whined.

"It's not the '80s, nobody says 'hack' anymore. Give me your login."

Rhodey sighed into the phone. ''WAR MACHINE ROX' with an 'X,' all caps.'

I laughed.

'Yeah, okay.'

"That is so much better than 'Iron Patriot'.' I stopped laughing and spun the car around, heading for the town's beauty contest. Why? Because it is televised, meaning there will be tv vans that I can work in.

Once I entered one of the vans, I turned off the screen displaying the contest and looked around.

"Because you erase my shows!"

Someone shouted outside, so I quickly started to check the signal. It read 8.9 Mbps.

"That ain't gonna cut it." I said out loud.

"We talked about this." The door to the van opened. "Excuse me, sir. I don't know who…"

I cut him off by turning around to see a guy in a green vest, sunglasses, and a white trucker hat on the phone.

"Shhh." I smiled at him as his jaw dropped.

"Mom, I need to call you back. Something magical is happening." He got off the phone. I kept shushing him, but I could tell he wasn't going to stop. "Tony Stark is in my van."

"Shh, keep it down."

"Tony Stark is in my van!"

"No, he's not."

"I knew you were still alive!"

God, he doesn't stop. "Come in. Shut the door." I whispered.

Clumsily, he clambered up into the van and shut the door. I put my finger to my lips and shushed him again.

"Oh, wow. Can I just say, sir…"

And here comes the fanboy… "Yep."

"I am your biggest fan."

"Okay. First, is this your van? Is anyone else gonna come in?" I interrupted.

"No, no, no. Just us." He shook his head.

"Great. What's your name?"

"Gary."

I got up and shook his hand. "Gary."

Gary tossed his hand over ours. "Oh, wow."

"Right there is fine. Okay." I smiled.

"Okay?"

"I get a lot of this so it's okay." I reassured the fanboy.

"Oh, good. Can I just say?"

"What do you want? Yeah."

"I don't know if you can tell, but I have, like, patterned my whole look after you. My hair's a little…"

"It's fine." Is he done? Please tell me he's done.

"It's not right, 'cause there's no product in it."

"Right."

"I don't want to make things awkward for you,"

Oh boy…

",but I do have to show you…boom!" Gary pulled his sleeve up to show me a tattoo.

"A Hispanic Scott Baio."

Gary chuckled.

I pointed at it. "I'm sorry. Is that me?"

"Yeah. It's…I mean…I had them do it off a doll that I made, so it's not like it's off a picture."

Okay, business. "Gary. Listen to me, okay?" I grabbed him by the shoulders. "I don't want to clip your wings, here. We're both a little over-excited. I got an issue. I'm chasing bad guys. I'm trying to grab a little something from some hard-crypt data files. I don't have enough juice." I pointed above us. "I need you to jump on the roof… Right? Recalibrate the ISDNs. Pump it up by about 40%."

"Got it."

"All right? It's a mission."

"Yeah." Gary said breathlessly.

"Tony needs Gary."

"And Gary needs Tony."

I stressed about being quiet about this before letting him go. My hand slide down my face. Now I'm glad Bails made me practice talking to fans.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

(Tony POV)

To my surprise, that Gary guy pulled through. He got me what I needed now I was on the road.

"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report."

"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?"

"How much have you had?"

"Two or three bowls."

"Can you still see straight?"

"Sort of."

"That means your fine. Give me Jarvis." I heard the phone being set by the suit. "Jarvis, how are we?"

"It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry."

Did he just say cranberry?

"And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."

"What are we talking? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?"

"Actually, sir, it's in Miami."

"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where he is."

"Um, it does say Miami, Florida." Harley answered.

Well then. "Okay, first things first, I need the armor. Where are we at with it?"

"It's not charging."

What? I stepped on the brakes hard and pulled over to the side of the road, gasping for air.

"Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42."

"What questionable about electricity? All right?" I shouted into the speaker. My heart was pounding out of my chest and breathing was becoming impossible. "It's my suit, and I can't…I'm not gonna…I don't wanna…Oh, god, not again." I threw the door open just as another attack consumed me.

"Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York."

My attack got worse, as I shouted through gritted teeth. "Right, then you just said it by name while denying having said it." I tried to breathe through the frigid air as the attack in New York and my home flooded my mind. Was Pepper okay? What about Bailey? How's she-

"Just breathe. Really, just breathe." Harley told me and I tried to listen.

I grabbed onto the car door handle for support.

"You're a mechanic, right?"

"Right." I mumbled

"You said so."

"Yes, I did." I felt myself calming down.

"Why don't you just build something?"

I stood up. "Okay. Thanks, kid."

(Donnie POV)

"Where the hell could she have gone, Leo?" I shouted at my brother as my fingers glided over the keyboard.

"I don't know, Donnie, but we'll find her." Leo answered calmly.

I took a breath. This won't get Bailey back. I chucked Elek's blueprints to the side and covered what I finished. "Okay, let's do it."

(Bailey POV)

When I woke up about two hours ago, I found myself strapped to a standing table with only a sports bra and short on. People came into the small room a few times for a short amount of time. This time it was a man in a white coat and a syringe. There was and IV in my left arm which was put there forever ago, and the man injected the substance into the IV. Once the substance entered my bloodstream, the fire started. I squeezed my eyes shut to try and breathe through the agonizing pain, but it was becoming too much. My screams echoed throughout the room and my fists clenched.

It felt like hours, but eventually, I was out like a light. While I was in my phase of darkness, I felt this sensation of being transported. I was able to pull myself back into consciousness just to be face to face with Killian.

"Hi." He smiled.

I groaned. "What's your plan, huh? Take me as bait? Good one." I said sarcastically.

"No, you're the test." He smirked. "I have Pepper upstairs and the President here as well. Your father has to make a choice: Who will he save?"

My eyes widened. What?

(Tony POV)

After Air Force One was compromised and I got to play a game of Barrel of Monkeys. Yeah, fun. Thousands of feet in the air trying to rescue fourteen people from falling to their eminent death. We were close, but everyone was safe. Unfortunately, I lost Mark 42. Rhodey and I found the coordinates for where Pepper and the President was. I also sent the turtles the Mandarin's coordinates because Rhodey and I can't save both Pepper and the President on our own. We need some back up, now all we could do is put our trust in them. So, as we boarded the ship, I stayed close to Rhodey as he led me while the turtles snuck in another way.

"Come on." Rhodey whispered. "You're not gonna freak out on me, are ya?"

"I hope not."

We hid behind a variety of walls and vehicles before spotting the President.

Rhodes sighed. "He's strung up over the oil tanker. They're gonna light him up, man."

"Viking funeral. Public execution."

"Yeah, death by oil."

We were off again as a voice radioed overhead.

' _Broadcast will commence shortly. Take final positions.'_

"Get your gun up?"

"Yup, what do I do?" I asked my friend.

"Stay on my six, cover high and don't shoot me in the back."

"Six, high, back. All right." I faced my gun in the directions I'm covering. We rounding a corner and someone shot at us in my zone. I fired back before taking cover. "You see that? Nailed it."

"Yeah, you really killed the glass."

"You think I was aiming for the bulb? You can't hit a bulb at this distance."

Rhodey stood up and with one shot the bulb was out.

' _All personnel, we have hostiles on east unit 12.'_

"I'm out. Give me…you got extra magazines?"

"They're not universal, Tony."

"I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff. Give me another one. One of yours."

"I don't have one that fits that gun."

"You've got, like, five of them. Here's what I'm gonna do. Save my spot, ready?" I peeked over the top before coming back down.

"What'd you see?"

"Too fast. Nothing. Here we go." I went up again. "Three guys, one girl, all armed."

"God, I would kill for some armor right now."

"You're right. We need back up."

"Yeah, a bunch." Rhodey scoffed.

"You know what?" I nodded towards my army of suits.

"Is that?"

"Yep."

"Are those?"

"Yeah." I patted Rhodey on the shoulder. "Merry Christmas, buddy. Tell the turtles to look around the base." I spoke to Jarvis. "Jarvis, target EXTREMIS heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, sir." His voice echoed.

"What are you waiting for? It's Christmas. Take them to church."

(Bailey POV)

The loud explosions outside snapped me into focus. My body ached and burned, I think they said this stuff was called EXTREMIS. I don't know what it's doing to me, but it wasn't good.

Dad? Where was he? I yelped as an arm fell through the ceiling. Oh, god! I looked around frantically. Help…

The door to the room I was in slammed open and I yelped.

"Please, no more!" I shouted as I struggled against the restraints weakly. Panting from the strain, tears streamed down my face.

"Whoa, whoa, Bailey, it's me. It's Donnie."

My eyes registered Donnie's face. "Donnie? Donnie, oh my god, where's the President, a-and Pepper? What about dad? Did he make it? A-and wha-"

"Hey, hey, calm down. We're getting you out of here." He turned to Leo. "Tell Tony they had her."

'Bailey's here?' I heard my dad shout through Leo's phone.

"We got her. She's safe. We're getting her off the boat."

Donnie held me bridal style after taking out the IV.

'Did he do it to her too?'

"Do what?" Leo asked, his face grew incredibly serious.

'The EXTREMIS.' I heard dad grunting as sounds of fighting echoed.

Leo looked at me. "We'll check when she's safe."

'Keep me updated.'


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: One more chapter after this : (**

Chapter 7

I was laying down in the van with Donnie, Leo, and Mikey surrounding me. Tiredly, I looked out the window to see all of the suits exploding. My brows furrowed at the display, and the van's phone rang through the radio.

"Yo." Raph answered.

'Is she okay?' Dad asked.

"Daddy." I called out.

'Bailey, honey, are you okay?'

I started crying. "What am I going to do?"

Donnie held me to him.

'I'll fix this. I always do.'

I nodded. "Daddy?"

'Yeah.'

"I love you."

I heard him sigh. 'I love you too, baby girl. I'll see you in a few hours. We're going back to the city for a while.'

"Okay." I sighed.

With that he was gone again. Donnie insisted on me resting and I wasn't going to argue. So I shut my eyes and relaxed against Donnie. It felt like moments later, we were stopped at an airport. Donnie lifted me into the plane and I felt the plane take off. Hours later, we were home and just as dad said. He was waiting with Pepper in the Turtle's suite. With a blanket around me, I ran to him and hugged him. Again, I was in hysterics. He kissed the top of my head as I clutched onto him.

"I thought you were dead." I said through me tears.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of. I'm gonna fix this, I promise."

I nodded trusting him. It took months and months, but nothing was working for me. Pepper was all sorted out and back to normal. I, however, was learning how to control this. It wasn't as bad as it first was, though, still it wasn't something I was happy about.

Pepper and I weren't the only ones being fixed, dad went into surgery. He had the arc reactor removed and as he insisted "he was a new man". Dad was able to sleep and his panic attacks lessened. The progress didn't stop there.

Walking into the Turtles' suite, Donnie had a surprise waiting for me. He didn't give any hints other than me not being able to stay home for a few days. No big deal, I just stole his room in the Lair. Finally though, I was allowed up. Full of excitement, I walked into the suite, word had it that Happy was out of his coma, but nothing could've prepared me for who I saw.

"Elek?"


	8. Chapter 7 part 2

Chapter 7 part 2

"Elek?"

I stared at the new and more high tech, Elek. It was odd, but El had jeans and a black t-shirt on. He also had more metal plates by his mouth allowing a smile form on his face. Elek had his old height and the expressions he was able to show mirrored the ones I felt…used to feel. That was the only thing different about him, I couldn't feel him.

"Bails?"

His voice was the same! Like a child missing their momma, I ran towards him and tossed my arms around him. His metal arms were more detail in the human anatomy, you could see the "muscles" in his arms. Tears streaked my face as I sobbed in my best friend's arms. I heard his voice rumble in his chest as a laugh escaped him. Donnie did it. He did exactly what I was trying to do, make Elek more human.

"I missed you so much." I cried as I clutched his shirt.

"I missed you too."

 **A/N: I wanted to add some Elek into this story and since chapter 7 was so short and this is short, I'm just considering this part 2. Unfortunately, this is the end of this story. :( When I get Avengers 2 I'll get started on the next story. I'm planning on continuing this to Civil War. Even though it says it's Captain America's movie. I think many of us could agree that it's basically another Avengers movie. X)**

 **So thank you everyone for reading and I hope that you all enjoyed it. Until the next story, see ya! :)**


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